From March 1942 to April 1946, 4555 men of Japanese ancestry were incarcerated at a Department of Justice internment camp at this site in Santa Fe. Most were barred by law from becoming United States citizens and were removed primarily from the West Coast and Hawaii. During World War II, their loyalty to the United States was questioned. Many of the men held here without due process were longtime resident religious leaders, businessmen, teachers, fishermen, farmers, and others. No person of Japanese ancestry in the U.S. was ever charged or convicted of espionage during the war, and many of the internees had relatives who served with distinction in the American Armed Forces in Europe and the Pacific.